A Windrush Legacy
The empire Windrush docked in Tilbury in 1948 bringing more than 1000 people to the UK mostly from the Caribbean. They were invited to help rebuild Britain's economy in the wake of the Second World War. Between 1948 and 1971 thousands of people arrived in the UK from the Caribbean who became known as the Windrush generation. In the early 70s they were given a permanent right to remain but in 2018 it emerged that many were not given proof of those rights and without being able to prove their status people were wrongly denied work and housing and they were detained in immigration centres some of them were even deported. After a number of years the Home Office launched a compensation scheme in 2019 but with complaints of long waits and unfair decisions many are still struggling to get that compensation.
Now we have three generations of Windrush descendants. Many descendants like myself, benefit from our parents bravery and contribution. However, we share a similar heritage in that we still see and experience unjust racial bias toward people with Black and Brown skin. Racial injustice is experienced in diverse ways; sadly, it has become normalised throughout structures and only courageous conversations and intentional behaviour will create definite and purposeful change. There is often a lot of energy endeavouring to prove non racist behaviour instead of being anti racist and this is where we want to get to. Anti racism means that any form of racism is not hidden or excused but directly addressed.
There is often an inertia when it comes to addressing racial justice and working towards anti racist environments, such as workplaces and churches. We know God has no favourites and does not view any hierarchy of peoples ( Romans 2:11). As shown in Pentecost at the coming of the Holy Spirit that enabled a diverse group of people gathered to hear each other in their own languages. The pursuit for racial justice is everyone’s concern. The Church of England in the Windrush era could and should have done better in welcoming the Windrush generation and demonstrate living together as a ‘rainbow people of God’. The Windrush experience is one of responding to the invitation to come to the British Isles to rebuild the country. The Birmingham Church of England Racial Justice Board is working to implement the recommendations of the ‘Lament to Action’ report that involves the Windrush generation and their descendants.
Rev Calvert Prentis